On the 7th October 2014 the Banchory Mural project began, as part of a grander plan called Bassline which aims to refurbish Scott Skinner Square and create a new brand for Banchory. Dufi-Art, a collaboration of artists Fin Macrae and Alister MacInnes, are leading this project, and commissioned five artists to create murals with the theme of 'Banchory as home' along the path winding towards the square. It was a week frought with rain but by Friday evening the murals were (mostly) finished! The artists involved were myself, David Faithfull, Fist, Fraser Gray, Natasha Todd and Dufi-Art themselves.
My mural was from a distance a salmon, but up close there are details of Banchory and the surrounding area hidden on the face of the fish. The river Dee runs by Banchory, and 10 minutes outside is the Falls of Feugh which is an excellent spot to view leaping salmon. Another reason for choosing the salmon is their struggle homewards upriver. It also represents a personal as well as general history, as my Grandad lived by the river Dee, and as a marine biologist specilised in the study of salmon his whole life.
